The inside of The Loop restaurant at Eastgate Crossing in Chapel Hill is unrecognizable.
"It's a total loss. There's nothing that's salvageable," said co-owner Jeffrey Miller.
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Mud soaked floors, blown out walls, and overturned equipment remain after floods from Tropical Storm Chantal sent more than five feet of water inside.
While Miller deals with the emotional toll of damage to the 30-year-old restaurant, he also worries about his employees. Some have worked at The Loop for decades and are now uncertain when their next paycheck will come.
"We have a lot of full-time employees that now don't have jobs," Miller said. "On Monday I was in shock. On Tuesday I was in shock. On Wednesday it hit me. I was in the shower and I broke down."
Miller said he plans to reopen, but doing so won't be cheap.
"To rebuild this, it's going to be anywhere from 600 to a million [dollars]. We have about half of that money. So, we need help," Miller said.
WRAL asked the Town of Chapel Hill what resources are available for flooded businesses.
A spokesperson said the town has started an online Economic Recovery Center.
"We're allowing businesses to start the remediation work of demo and drying out now, with permits to follow within three days," said a town spokesperson in a statement to WRAL.
At 68-years-old, Miller said despite the long road ahead, his restaurant of three decades is not something he's willing to lose.
"We know everybody," he said. "I've seen babies turn out to be parents. For 30 years, it's a pretty cool thing. It keeps my heart ticking."
An online fundraiser to support the employees has raised nearly $7,000.
Town officials are vowing to work with Kite Realty, the company that owns the Eastgate Crossing shopping center, to help stores get back on their feet as quickly as possible.